NEW-FORMAT ONLINE CLASS GAINS TRACTION WITH CSU

A new online approach to an engineering course at San Jose State University saw fewer students failing the class, and will be expanded to other California State University campuses in the fall, officials said Wednesday.

The course was offered as a collaboration between the public university and edX, an online provider.

San Jose officials say they’ve seen the number of students passing an Introduction to Circuits Analysis course jump to 91 percent for those taking the “flipped” class, up from 59 percent of the students in the traditional class.

In the flipped format, students watch videotaped lectures, take quizzes and participate in virtual labs over the computer and then work through problem sets in the classroom with their instructor.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said California’s public universities and colleges need to embrace new educational models in order to expand access, cut costs and most importantly, create more college graduates who can compete in the global economy.

Under an agreement signed Wednesday, edX, a not-for-profit learning enterprise founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will expand its collaboration with San Jose State to include three to five additional for-credit courses in the fall.

In addition, up to 11 CSU campuses will have the opportunity to offer the online course, with faculty invited to attend training sessions in San Jose this summer.

San Diego State University will not be offering the “flipped” engineering course yet.

“We are exploring the advantages and disadvantages of these types of courses in our engineering program and we will be watching what San Jose State does very closely,” SDSU spokesman Greg Block said.

EdX, which offers massive open online courses or MOOCs, will be receiving a licensing fee from CSU for the classes, although details of the arrangement have not been worked out, edX president Anant Agarwal said.